Latent growth curves give us a picture of the pattern with which many of the variables we want to study change over time. For example, how have Americans' attitudes about September 11 changed since the actual event? How could we measure such a change? How could we measure attitudes? Consider scales. One province in Canada has recently recognized same-sex marriage. How might that compare with California attitudes to same-sex marriage? How might we measure such attitudes? Consider the California initiative on same-sex marriage. How might we collect such data in a national US survey? Would we be able to use SPSS to analyze our data?

Much of what we want to study in sociology involves change. Alan Acock's explanation of Latent Growth Curves is clear and straight-forward. We are not going to study the statistics for calculating these curves at this time, but I would like you to read through the top of page 8, so that you can see the internal logic and ease of understanding that is possible with such methodology if you wish to continue your studies beyond our M.A. degree.